The head of the prime minister's press office, Yiannis Andrianos, was called to testify before a prosecutor yesterday afternoon, some 24 hours after he revealed that he had sent to judicial authorities a DVD containing footage allegedly used to blackmail former Culture Ministry General Secretary Christos Zachopoulos.

Invoking the right to protect his sources, Andrianos, a former journalist, told the magistrate only that a journalist had given him the DVD.

Sources said Andrianos admitted that he had been given the DVD a few days before Zachopoulos tried to kill himself but had forwarded it to prosecutors only the day after the attempted suicide.

The government insists that the DVD contains footage solely of a sexual nature and does not implicate Zachopoulos in financial wrongdoing. «You know that this government, unlike what went on before, covers up nothing and tolerates no wrongdoing,» said Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos after meeting Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. «The justice system is looking into the matter and will provide answers for all. People who are speculating should wait.»

Publisher Andreas Sideris, a friend of Zachopoulos, also testified yesterday, telling the magistrate that the former public official had admitted to being blackmailed.

A former colleague of Zachopoulos, Evi Tsekou, is accused of having an affair with her boss and trying to blackmail him, allegations she denies.